Nashville-style hot chicken, incendiary and tongue-blistering, is the spawn of revenge, jealousy, rage and territorial angst. Back in 1945, a womanizing Nashville gent, hungry from his nocturnal rambling, went home to his girlfriend whereupon she caught a whiff of betrayal — another woman’s perfume. She made him breakfast all right. Fried chicken, with a heaping dose of cayenne pepper.

Well, wouldn’t you know. The philanderer liked it so much he and his brothers opened up a barbecue hut serving hot, hot chicken and that was the beginning of Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, Tennessee. It survives to this day, operated by the founders’ great niece and copycats can be found throughout the southern U.S.

If you want a taste of what Thornton Prince experienced that serendipitous night, stop by Downlow Chicken Shack run by husband and wife team Doug Stephen and Lindsey Mann of Merchant’s Workshop. It is by no means fancy. You order at the counter and the chicken’s delivered to you at the counter or table.

“I’m happily married,” Stephen said when asked if there were parallel beginnings. In fact, they’re both as sparky and friendly as the folks in Nashville.

Merchant’s, by the way, will close on August 16, but the pair intend to reopen in a larger space in 2020. Their hot chicken shack takes its name from the off-menu ‘downlow” fried chicken they served on Sunday nights at Merchant’s.

Chicken in a bun from the Downlow Chicken Shack, on Commercial Drive in Vancouver.Mia Stainsby /
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And here’s the thing. You don’t require a numb tongue to eat their Nashville-style chicken. The chicken comes in six degrees of heat separating the wimps and the insane: classic, mild, medium, hot, extra hot and Side of Milk. With the latter, the milk coats the tongue with a little fat to create a bit of a barrier from hellish heat.

“I once mixed the spices for the Side of Milk (15 per cent Carolina reaper, 7.5 per cent ghost chile, and scotch bonnet and habanero)and washed my hands twice. I touched my forehead and my forehead was burning,” Stephen said. “We get four to six orders for the Side of Milk every day with one or tworegretting their decision.”

To give you an idea of the burn, the ghost chile has about one million Scoville heat units and the Carolina reaper a punishing 2,200,000 SHU, making it about 200 times hotter than a jalapeno. Milder choices are tame, with cayenne and paprika or Mexican chile powder.

“At the end of the day, when we’re cleaning out the shakers, you’ll hear people coughing,” he said. Owners of their next-door Thai restaurant, Kin Kao, with their Thai tolerance for heat, he said, “can crush a Side of Milk.”

The chicken is Farmcrest, free-run, GMO and hormone-free from Two Rivers, moist and flavourful. It’s brined for 24 hours, then marinated another three in buttermilk before being dredged in flour and seasonings, then deep-fried. I am not an arsonist. I do not like to suffer. I had no interest in setting myself afire. I ordered the medium, for a civilized “light burn” and could enjoy the taste of chicken.

The chicken’s served in various forms — dark meat, white meat, half bird, whole bird, breast, boneless thigh, a bucket of thighs, a bucket of wings or on a bun.

Stephen’s own preference is for medium or hot with two portions of mac and cheese for the fat. “When it subsides, it’s like a euphoric high,” he said. I suggest it might be euphoric relief. “Yeah, I suppose the pain is so bad it’s a relief to be normal,” he said.

Sides include crinkle-cut fries, slaw, pickles, cornbread (two thumbs up!), and macaroni salad. The bread that comes with the chicken is sliced, white and pretty much like Wonder Bread. Asked if customers might not want something more artisanal, Stephen replies they’ve had over 6,000 orders since opening in June and only two requests to “hold the bread.”

When all’s said and done, Stephen does have a love affair going on after all. “Ever since I was a young kid, I’ve loved fried chicken. It’s built in. At least once a year, I crave it with that weird extremely chopped KFC coleslaw. There’s clearly something deep down from my childhood.”

Downlow isn’t licensed yet but they’ll be doing an event a month with breweries and wineries under a special permit.

The comeback gelato master

When a family feud (husband and wife) busted up Vancouver treasures, the Bella Gelateria triplets last year (Coal Harbour, Yaletown, Olympic Village), the original gelato master, James Coleridge vowed he’d be back. Well, folks, he is! Uno Gelato will be opening in three locations. He’s been busy working on new recipes and techniques — using sugar alternatives like birch syrup, adding vegan options using raw coconut milk and local kombucha. One thing’s for sure — you can count on great ingredients, time-honoured techniques and great gelato. Coleridge won the International Gelato Master of the Year in 2014 and was a double gold winner at the 2012 Florence Italy Gelato Festival.

All three locations will open this month in mid-August, a publicist said. The first to open will be at 2579 Broadway, to be followed by store openings at 601 Stamps Landing and 1055 Canada Place (going mano-a-mano with Bella Gelateria, around the corner, the only surviving BG, under new ownership).

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